The present invention relates to a ski boot and locking lever device.
Many ski boots with locking devices are known having a locking lever solidly connected to one edge of the upper and coacting with a ring fixed to the opposing edge of the upper and being engageable by a tooth of the lever.
Also known are boots with locking devices consisting of a lever attached to one edge of the boot upper and provided with a ring engageable with a projection or another locking element on the opposing edge of the upper.
A common feature of the above prior art devices is that the locking lever is placed on the forward part of the boot and exerts direct traction on the coacting locking element forming the element of linkage between the two edges of the upper to draw the two edges together for closing and locking the boot.
The above arrangement has the drawback in that the traction or closing action exerted by the locking lever on the ring or other element is in a limited zone of the upper, thus bringing about an uneven distribution of stresses, contrary to requirements for good ski boots.
Furthermore, in the known ski boots, the forward positioning of the locking lever or levers offers the possibility that the lever could be engaged by slalom poles or other obstacles present along the course of a downhill race. Also, the forward lever can injure the skier or others in case of falls or collision.
Accordingly, the present invention eliminates all of these drawbacks through the provision of a ski boot having a lever locking device, comprising a plastics boot body having a front opening defined by opposing side edges characterized in that it comprises a loop element encircling the boot body in a region affected by the front opening and provided with traction means toward the rear of said body. Advantageously, the loop element can consist of a substantially truncated conical loop having rearward divergence.
The traction means can consist of a strap connected with the encircling loop and a locking lever connected to the rear of the boot body and engaging the strap adjustably.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.